Latest news with #AirTractorAT-802
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Climate
- The Irish Sun
‘Apocalyptic' blazes force Marseilles airport to SHUT as residents evacuated & choking smoke billows over French region
"APOCALYPTIC" blazes have forced Marseilles International Airport to shut down as France braces to tackle raging wildfires. Plumes of acrid smoke billowed into the sky - causing the airport to close its runways shortly after midday and cancel dozens of flights. 9 A helicopter drops water on a wildfire that rapidly expands due to strong winds near the city of Marseille Credit: EPA 9 A wildfire expands due to strong winds near the city of Marseille Credit: EPA 9 L'Estaque, a district of Marseilles, covered in dense smoke Credit: AFP 9 The fire is said to have started in a vehicle in the area of Pennes-Mirabeau to the north of Marseilles. By the afternoon, it roared across 350 hectares (860 acres), according to French firefighters. The blaze, fanned by winds of up to 70 kilometres per hour, could be smelled in the centre of Marseilles, as thick clouds of smoke hovered over the city. Water-dropping planes tried to extinguish the fire on the outskirts of the city, which has some 900,000 inhabitants. more on wildfires "Its very striking - apocalyptic even," said Monique Baillard, a resident of Les Pennes-Mirabeau. A spokesperson for Marseilles airport, France's fourth-busiest, said planes had not been taking off or landing since around midday. They added that some flights had been diverted to Nice, Nimes and other regional airports. It was unclear when the airport would reopen. In response, emergency services have mobilised more than 720 firefighters and 230 water machines. Most read in The US Sun Alongside that, four water bomber helicopters, one dash aircraft and four canadairs (specialist firefighting aircraft) have been deployed, according to Sky News. The wildfire also interrupted train traffic as the blaze spread rapidly to the edges of the southern French city. Devastating wildfires spread in Turkey leaving two dead and forcing thousands to evacuate as city's mayor pleads for help French railway operator SNCF said the circulation of trains between Marseilles and the Miramas-Aix high-speed TGV train station was stopped due to a fire nearing the tracks in L'Estaque, a picturesque neighbourhood in the city. The city's mayor warned that the fire continues to spread north of Marseilles. Benoit Payan said: "The fire that started this morning in Pennes-Mirabeau continues to spread north of Marseilles. "I went to the command post of the Marseilles Firefighters Battalion to monitor the operations." He repeated previous pleas to people to stay inside and adhere to official instructions. Earlier, Payan on X warned residents that the fire was now "at the doors of Marseilles", urging inhabitants in the north of the city to refrain from taking to the roads to make way for rescue services. 9 Smoke from a wildfire rages near Plage des Corbieres, on the outskirts of Marseilles Credit: AFP 9 A fire-fighting aircraft Air Tractor AT-802 drops fire retardant over a wildfire near Aussieres neighbourhood, close to the city of Narbonne Credit: AFP 9 Smoke rises over Marseilles as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Alexandre Dimou Credit: Reuters Meanwhile, the mayor of Pennes-Mirabeau said two housing estates had been evacuated and firefighters had positioned themselves outside an old people's home to fight off approaching flames. The fire near Marseilles is just the latest to have hit France in recent days. Several weeks of heat waves combined with strong winds have increased the risk of wildfires in southern France, with several breaking out over the past couple of days. To the west, near the city of Narbonne, more than 1,000 firefighters from around the country were seeking to contain another blaze. It had crept across 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of trees since starting on the property of a winery on Monday afternoon, they said. In the village of Prat-de-Cest on Tuesday morning, trees were blackened or still on fire. 9 A police officer tries to extinguish a car on fire in L'Estaque a district of Marseilles Credit: AFP 9 This photographs shows vegetation smouldering after a wildfire near the Aussieres neighbourhood, close to the city of Narbonne, southwestern France, on July 8, 2025. (Photo by Matthieu RONDEL / AFP) (Photo by MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty Images) Credit: AFP
Hamilton Spectator
01-05-2025
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
RCMP in eastern Newfoundland take over search for pilot of downed small plane
ST. JOHN'S - The RCMP have taken over the search for a pilot reported missing after his small aircraft crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of Newfoundland on Tuesday morning. A spokesman for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax says a search started after the centre received a signal from an emergency beacon around 9 a.m. Atlantic time. Over the next two days, members of the military and the Canadian Coast Guard found an oil slick, one of the amphibious plane's floats, an empty life-raft and other debris about 225 kilometres east of St. John's. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the single-engine Air Tractor AT-802 took off from St. John's International Airport with only the pilot aboard on Tuesday morning, heading for the Azores — a chain of islands off the west coast of Portugal. The board has confirmed the turboprop was purchased in the United States by a man from Spain, whose flight plan included a stopover in St. John's. A military spokesman says the RCMP are now handling the pilot's disappearance as a missing persons case. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
01-05-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
RCMP in eastern Newfoundland take over search for pilot of downed small plane
ST. JOHN'S – The RCMP have taken over the search for a pilot reported missing after his small aircraft crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of Newfoundland on Tuesday morning. A spokesman for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax says a search started after the centre received a signal from an emergency beacon around 9 a.m. Atlantic time. Over the next two days, members of the military and the Canadian Coast Guard found an oil slick, one of the amphibious plane's floats, an empty life-raft and other debris about 225 kilometres east of St. John's. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the single-engine Air Tractor AT-802 took off from St. John's International Airport with only the pilot aboard on Tuesday morning, heading for the Azores — a chain of islands off the west coast of Portugal. The board has confirmed the turboprop was purchased in the United States by a man from Spain, whose flight plan included a stopover in St. John's. During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. A military spokesman says the RCMP are now handling the pilot's disappearance as a missing persons case. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
01-05-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Spanish pilot missing after small plane crossing Atlantic crashes off Newfoundland
ST. JOHN'S – The search for a pilot whose small aircraft crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of Newfoundland continued for a second day on Wednesday. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the single-engine Air Tractor AT-802 took off from St. John's International Airport with only the pilot aboard on Tuesday morning. A spokesman for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax says the centre received a signal from an emergency beacon around 9 a.m. Atlantic time. Lt.-Cmdr. Len Hickey says the signal came from an area 225 kilometres east of St. John's. He says two Canadian Coast Guard vessels and two fishing boats were dispatched to the scene to begin the search, and they were joined by a military CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopter and a CC-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircraft. The searchers later found an oil slick, one of the amphibious plane's floats, as well as an empty orange life-raft and some other debris. Hickey said the transportation board confirmed the turboprop had been purchased in the United States by a man from Spain, whose flight plan included a stopover in St. John's before heading to the Azores, an island chain west of Portugal. During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. The highly agile Air Tractor aircraft, which has a range of almost 1,000 kilometres, is primarily used for spraying agricultural crops. But it can also be used for aerial firefighting when equipped with floats. Typically, smaller aircraft do not have the range to complete a transatlantic flight, but they can be equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks to extend their flight time. 'He was working his way up the eastern seaboard with the last touch point in North America being St. John's before he crossed the Atlantic,' Hickey said in an interview. 'The Azores was listed in the flight plan as the destination.' Hickey said Wednesday the two fishing boats were released from the search later in the day, and he confirmed the search would continue until sundown. At that point if the pilot had not been found, the RCMP was expected to take on the case as a missing person file. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2025.
Toronto Star
30-04-2025
- General
- Toronto Star
Spanish pilot missing after small plane crossing Atlantic crashes off Newfoundland
ST. JOHN'S - The search for a pilot whose small aircraft crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of Newfoundland continued for a second day on Wednesday. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the single-engine Air Tractor AT-802 took off from St. John's International Airport with only the pilot aboard on Tuesday morning.
